Naya laughed as she nodded approval, excited for her mother. “That’s really great, Mom!”
Jessica’s smile faded and she looked at her daughter. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Jessica took Naya’s hand and pulled her over to the sofa, the only space that didn’t have a stack of fabric bags. “Tell your momma what’s going on.”
Naya sighed, wishing that she could give her mother some good news. “I just…I’m…” she blinked back the tears, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. “I’m pregnant,” she admitted. “I met a man in a bar about a month ago and…well, he actually was a really nice guy and I sort of did something stupid.”
Jessica was stunned for perhaps thirty seconds, then her face lit up into a huge grin. “Honey, that’s wonderful!”
Naya laughed, but it was more of a sob. “Not really, Mom. I’m going to be a single mother.”
Jessica waved that issue away. “Honey, you’re gonna be a momma! And I’m gonna be a gramma and we’re going to raise this little baby up right!”
Naya’s heart lifted slightly with her mother’s sincere excitement, but that didn’t abate her worry over all of the problems facing her. “I never wanted to be a single mother,” Naya replied.
“Yeah, well, if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that life never really turns out the way we want.” Jessica turned to more fully face her daughter, taking both of her hands gently. “But you’re not looking at the bright side of this, honey. A baby! You’re going to have a baby!”
Naya smiled and looked down. “Yeah, that’s pretty…exciting.” She took a moment to revel at that, but then her mind turned to all of the issues. Money. Time. Changing a diaper, nursing her baby, feeding her baby, putting the baby furniture together, all of the clothes, maternity leave and…she shook her head. “But I’m scared.”
Jessica’s hands shifted, pressing their fingers together. “Honey, I know what you’re feeling. I was a single woman when I got pregnant as well. Your daddy married me as soon as we realized what had happened and it was the worst mistake of my life. But…back then, it’s what you did. Women just didn’t get pregnant without being married, honey. So we did and we fought all the time. Money was tight and I started drinking after you were born. I never touched a drop while I was pregnant with you, rest assured of that!” she said with emphasis. “But afterwards, life was pretty hard. Then your daddy left and…well, things just spiraled downwards from there.”
“So…you think…?”
Jessica smiled gently at her daughter. “I think that you’re going to be a wonderful mother, Naya. You have a good job and an excellent reputation within the marketing community. I know you’re worried about what’s happening at work, but if you get laid off,” she reached up and touched Naya’s hair gently, “you could get a new job somewhere else if you needed to. And I know that you’re good, because I never would have sold as many bags if you hadn’t created that banner for me. It convinced people to give my bags a try. So yeah, you’re good.”
Naya smiled, leaning her head against her mother’s shoulder. “Thanks Mom. But…”
“Is the baby-daddy not in the picture?”
Naya wasn’t sure how she should answer that. Honesty, she reminded herself. Her mother could take the truth. “Actually, the baby daddy owns the company I work for. I haven’t told him yet.”
“Ah! More problems. But you’re strong, honey. You’ll make the right decisions.”
She laughed, thinking about how often she’d had a chance to tell Pierce about the baby. But she hadn’t been able to because…well, because he’d touch her and, after that, their interactions devolved away from “important conversation” mode.
“And just so ya know, I still talk with my friend who got you into that boarding school.” Jessica sat up and looked for her purse. “I’m going to call her…” she looked at the clock and chuckled, realizing how late it was. Office hours were definitely past right now. “Okay, well, I’ll call her tomorrow, just to let her know that I have another Banks Baby on the way! I’m sure that your little one will be just as smart and will have the grades to get into that snooty boarding school.”
Naya was stunned for a long moment, staring at her mother as Jessica typed in a reminder on her phone. Her mother…? That’s how she’d gotten into The Burling School?! That’s how she’d met her best friends and learned so much about life and work and surviving?! Her mother…her very own mother had done that for her?
Surely, Naya had misunderstood. “Mom, are you saying that you got me into the boarding school in high school?”
Jessica finished typing in the message and tossed her phone back into her purse, shrugging her shoulder dismissively. “I had a friend who had a friend. I got your school transcripts and contacted one of the teachers over at the Burling School. A new lady…I can’t remember her name but it sounded all snooty and annoying.”
“Ms. Dunworthy?” Naya offered, thinking of the pretty teacher Naya had met on that scary, first day.
“Yeah!” Jessica replied, looking up with bright, green eyes. “That’s the woman. She wasn’t snooty at all, except for her name. But then again, the school was located in the posh section of London, so I suppose everyone had that same accent.”
Naya didn’t bother to tell her mother that the school hadn’t actually been in London, but had been on a massive estate in the country and had been one of the most magical places she’d ever lived. She’d made friends with Ella and Cassandra and so many other ladies. Of course, there’d been the downside. The ladies she hadn’t liked. But they’d eventually all learned to exist peacefully. With only occasional pranks pulled on the enemy teams. But that school had taught her so much more than education. It had taught her to thrive!
“You did that for me?” she whispered, still stunned.
Jessica looked stunned…and a bit shy…as she took in her daughter’s surprise. “Yes, honey. It was the least I could do. At the time, I was trying to get sober again. I’d made it three months by that point, but I couldn’t come home and see you. I just…” she sniffed, tangling her fingers together nervously. “I couldn’t put you through another departure if I couldn’t stay sober. So I stayed away, but I did that for you. I got you into that school.”
Naya was so touched, she couldn’t stop the hug. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s shoulders. “Thank you!” she whispered fiercely. “That was one of the best things you did for me.”
Jessica hugged Naya as well, both of them fighting back the tears after that. “Well,” she said when they pulled apart. “I think we should get some dinner. What kinds of things are you craving?” she asked. “When I was pregnant with you, I was desperate for those McDonald’s McMuffin breakfast sandwiches. Which was all well and good until it was nine o’clock at night and I was trying to make one by myself.” She made a face that caused Naya to laugh. “I couldn’t quite replicate the recipe. My efforts definitely were not the same as the real thing!”
“Actually, I could go for some Thai food. What do you think? Could you stand something spicy?”
“Yes!” she laughed and clapped her hands. “There’s a place right down the street that delivers!”
They ordered the food, but instead of waiting for it to be delivered, Naya convinced her mother to drive over and pick it up with her. As soon as she had the food in her hands, Naya was too frantic for the spicy foods to wait until they got back to her mother’s apartment and just dove in while they sat in the parking lot.
“So spicy stuff, huh?” her mother laughed, using a plastic fork to get more drunken noodles. “I think you’re doing this pregnancy thing right!”
Naya laughed and the sound turned to a groan of pleasure as she took another bite of the spicy noodles. “We’ll see,” she muttered around a mouthful of spicy beef.
Chapter 14
Naya stood outside of the man’s office door, pacing back and forth. For the moment, the evil gatekeeper was away from her desk, so Naya figured she could act as nervous as sh
e wanted. And right now, she wanted to freak out.
Just a little, she thought as she paced again, trying to figure out what to say to the man she’d been with…three times. Good grief, she was pregnant with a man’s baby and she’d spent only a few hours in the man’s company.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly correct. She’d probably spent the equivalent of three full days in the man’s presence. Although, during a few of those hours, they’d both been sound asleep.
Still…how did one tell someone, who was basically a stranger, that she was pregnant with his child? Good grief!
“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Danislov?” a sharp, female voice demanded.
Naya jerked upright and opened her eyes, staring into the angry eyes of said evil gatekeeper. “No,” she replied automatically. “I just…I need to speak with Pei…Mr. Danislov.”
The woman instantly caught Naya’s accidental use of Pierce’s first name, her eyes narrowing and she pursed her lips with disapproval. “Mr. Danislov has a very tight schedule today.” She walked over to her desk and pulled up his calendar on her computer. “Perhaps I can schedule an appointment with him. Tell me what this is about and I’ll see if he is willing to speak with you.”
Naya opened her mouth, trying to come up with a valid reason why she needed to speak with Pierce privately. “I just…need to speak with him about a marketing issue.”
The woman, Naya still had no idea what her name was, scanned the meetings over the next several days. “Mr. Pierce has a marketing meeting scheduled for tomorrow at ten in the morning. I believe you are one of the meeting participants,” she commented, clicking on the meeting. “Yes. You are in that meeting. I’m sure, whatever is on your mind, you need to inform the rest of the marketing personnel.” She tilted her head and Naya knew that she wasn’t going to like the woman’s next comment. “I’ve heard that there is a great deal of turmoil going on in the marketing department. Perhaps it is because not everyone is being informed of the marketing plans?”
Naya prided herself on trying very hard not to hate anyone. There were some enemies from boarding school that she still hated with a vehemence that shocked her at times. But otherwise, she liked just about everyone. But this woman…Naya knew that she would never like her. The woman was territorial in a way that came across as insecure. Which meant that Naya would never get along with her.
“You’re absolutely right,” Naya replied and forced a fake smile. “Please tell Mr. Danislov that I was here and that I’ll discuss my issues with him in the marketing meeting tomorrow morning. That’s a very good solution. Be sure and tell him that you suggested it.”
At that point, she spun around and…came to a screeching halt. “Tamara!” she gasped.
The assistant hissed. “Do you two know each other?” she demanded.
Naya didn’t bother to acknowledge the assistant. Instead, she focused all of her concentration on the gorgeous, exotically beautiful woman standing in front of her. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Tamara flung her silky black hair back over her shoulder. “Naya Banks,” she muttered, her red lips pressing together. “I can’t imagine what you’re doing here either. But my business with Mr. Danislov is private.”
Naya’s eyes narrowed as hatred for the beautiful woman intensified, sharpened as jealousy stabbed at her. “Aren’t you engaged? Shouldn’t you be crawling back to your fiancé?”
“I don’t think that my personal life is any of your business,” she replied haughtily.
“Right. It isn’t. And since we have no business with each other either, I’ll be on my way.” With that, Naya walked around Tamara and the guy behind her, head held high and refusing to be intimidated by the slender beauty. Tamara had been friends with that Greek woman, Lana, and the American during their high school days. Naya, Ella and Cassy had lived in the dorm room across the hallway while Tamara, Lana and Willow, daughter to that country music singer that Naya absolutely refused to listen to, lived in the room across the hallway. If Ms. Dunworthy hadn’t been such a skilled arbitration expert, the dormitory might have actually burned to the ground from some of their more-ill-conceived pranks. The hatred between the two rooms had been epic. As had been some of the pranks played between the ladies. Ms. Dunworthy had eventually pushed all of them into a room and ordered them to “work it out!” and then walked away, refusing to deal with the petty vindictiveness. They’d all come to the agreement that, if they didn’t speak to each other, then there could be peace along the third-floor, dorm room hallway.
That peaceful co-existence had lasted until this moment. Naya desperately needed to call Ella and Cassy. She needed to get their take on this because there was no way that she was going to allow Pierce to fall under the spell of Princess Tamara! Naya had seen Tamara play the field during high school and had hated her. Not just because of her beauty, but for so many reason! None of them completely justifiable, but Naya didn’t care about being reasonable at the moment.
As soon as she got back to her desk, she grabbed her cell phone, typing in an urgent group message. “Emergency Meeting. The Tribe has broken the peace!”
She dumped her phone onto her desk and tried to focus on work issues. But seeing Tamara here, and even worse, the beautiful, truly-royal woman standing just outside of Pierce’s office, wanting to speak with Pierce, she wanted to…Naya wanted to scratch the other woman’s eyes out!
Perhaps if Naya had run into Tamara in a social setting, or if the gorgeous woman had been with some other man, not waiting to speak with Pierce, then maybe Naya wouldn’t feel this way. It had been several years since they’d all graduated from school together. One would think that they’d gotten over their hatred.
But Tamara was too beautiful and she was here to see Pierce. What did that mean? Was he dating Tamara? That would be horrible and jealousy seared her stomach! Tamara dated everyone! She was so gorgeous and so amazing. Everything came easy for that woman!
Her phone buzzed but she ignored it, assuming that it was Ella or Cassy sending her a message. But at the moment, she couldn’t look at the messages. She wanted to just…wallow. Yes, wallowing was a good activity at the moment. She was pregnant and jealous and needed to wallow!
Pierce listened to the lovely woman talk, but his mind was more focused on Naya. What was she doing today? He wanted to be with her. Glancing at his schedule, he made a mental note to tell his assistant to cancel his last few meetings. He was going to take Naya out and they were going to have a quiet dinner tonight. In public where he would be forced to keep his hands off of her.
He almost chuckled at the idea of him actually making an effort to not make love to a beautiful woman, but it was true. He understood that being alone with Naya meant that he would be making love with her. And it wasn’t just his own lust that was an issue. She was just as much of a participant. In fact, she’d been the one to initiate their sexual madness the previous time they’d been together.
He couldn’t suppress his smile at the memory. Nor could he control his body’s reaction. Instantly, he was hard and ready for her, aching with the need for a repeat performance.
“Do any of these flats suit your needs?”
Pierce focused in on the pictures in front of him. He’d asked Ms. Hamid to meet with him here because she had several rental properties that would be an improvement over Naya’s current living situation. He wanted her closer to his office. And she needed something bigger, more luxurious. He wasn’t a stingy lover and wanted something nice for her. As well as for himself. He provided well for his mistresses, wanting them to have whatever they wanted.
Although, Naya was…different. She was special. For a moment, he realized that he didn’t like the term “mistress” applied to her. He fully acknowledged that he wanted a sexual relationship with her. But for the first time, he also wanted…more. Although, what was more than a mistress?
A word popped into his mind but he instantly discarded that possibility.
Damn it, what the
hell was he thinking?! More from a woman? Naya was lovely but…he barely knew her!
No, he would set her up as his mistress and enjoy her company. That was his plan.
“Sir?” the woman prompted.
Pierce pulled his attention back to the present. “Right,” he sighed and leaned forward. One by one, he pulled the pictures of the apartments forward. One was by the Thames, looking out at Parliament with a luxurious, high-end kitchen. He wondered if she’d like that or if she’d prefer something a bit more subdued. Did Naya like to cook? Was she a baker? What were her hobbies?
Pierce realized that he had no idea. In the past, he’d simply arranged for the lady in his life to live in an apartment that was convenient for him. Those ladies had been perfectly happy with the arrangement since that meant that they were closer to the shopping districts. But once again, Pierce was aware of the differences between the other women in his past and Naya. He didn’t want to give her an apartment that wasn’t something she’d enjoy as well as one that would fit her lifestyle.
“Let me take these pictures and I’ll let you know,” he told the woman who was lovely, but didn’t stir anything in him. Tamara el Hamid was beautiful and slender with an athletic build that might have enticed him at some point in his life. But she wasn’t Naya. Ms. el Hamid left him cold. She didn’t have the cute, sexy figure that he craved and she didn’t have the green eyes that smiled up at him.
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